Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

From a helicopter high above the empty California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night...

In Chicago, a woman learns that an elite team of ex–army investigators is being hunted down one by one...

And on the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher  soldier, cop, hero  is pulled out of his wandering life by a code that few other people could understand. From the first shocking scenes in Lee Child's explosive new novel, Jack Reacher is plunged like a knife into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends...and is on its way to something even worse.

A decade postmilitary, Reacher has an ATM card and the clothes on his back  no phone, no ties, and no address. But now a woman from his old unit has done the impossible. From Chicago, Frances Neagley finds Reacher, using a signal only the eight members of their elite team of army investigators would know. She tells him a terrifying story  about the brutal death of a man they both served with. Soon Reacher is reuniting with the survivors of his old team, scrambling to raise the living, bury the dead, and connect the dots in a mystery that is growing darker by the day. The deeper they dig, the more they don't know: about two other comrades who have suddenly gone missing  and a trail that leads into the neon of Vegas and the darkness of international terrorism.

For now, Reacher can only react. To every sound. Every suspicion. Every scent and every moment. Then Reacher will trust the people he once trusted with his life  and take this thing all the way to the end. Because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they'd better be ready for what comes right back at them...

Review

"At the start of bestseller Child's winning 11th Jack Reacher adventure (after The Hard Way), the bad guys unceremoniously dump Calvin Franz, a former MP, from a Bell 222 helicopter '[t]hree thousand feet above the [California] desert floor.' Trouble is, Franz was a member of the army's special investigation unit headed by Reacher  a one-time military cop who left the service to become a solitary drifter par excellence. A former colleague sends Reacher a coded SOS; the two rendezvous in L.A. and the game's afoot. More members of the band get back together, only to discover that Franz isn't the group's only casualty. As usual in Reacher's capers, practically nothing is what it seems, and the meticulously detailed route to the truth proves especially engrossing thanks to the joint efforts of this band of brothers (and two sisters). The author carefully delineates Reacher's erstwhile colleagues, their smart-ass banter masking an unspoken affection. The villains' comeuppance, a riveting eye-for-an-eye battle scene (hint: helicopter), is one of Child's more satisfying finales." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review

"[A]s always, the action is intense, the pace unrelenting, and the violence unforgiving. Child remains the reigning master at combining breakneck yet brilliantly constructed plotting with characters who continually surprise us with their depth." Booklist (Starred Review)

Review

"After ten previous Reacher novels, it would seem difficult to find new insight into such an enigmatic character, but Child supplies one of the best books in the series. This view into Reacher's past and the people he knew makes for an intriguing story line. Highly recommended." Library Journal (Starred Review)

Review

"[S]corching....Perhaps there are action-lit writers more recognizable than Child, but the bet is that none of them will turn in a tighter-plotted, richer-peopled, faster-paced page-turner this year." Kirkus Reviews

Review

"Child consistently forces Reacher to wrestle seriously with the mysteries and conspiracies that confront him." The Oregonian

Review

"[U]nfolds with the simple, immaculate logic that makes this series utterly addictive....[A] top-tier Reacher book that matches the caliber of One Shot...[and] makes the most of its characters' camaraderie." Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Review

"[The] Jack Reacher novels...would be ridiculous revenge scenarios were the plots not so briskly convincing, the prose so artfully direct, and the action so satisfyingly blunt....New readers won't be put off...the book works as a slam-bang yarn filled with Child's usual terse life-and-death lessons. (Grade: A-)" Entertainment Weekly

Review

"Lee Child, who always seems to be at the top of his game, finds new summits to climb in Bad Luck and Trouble and...conquers them quite handily. You'll never regret the night of sleep you lost while reading this one." BookReporter.com

Synopsis

From the first shocking scenes in Child's explosive new novel, Jack Reacher is plunged like a knife into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends and is on its way to something even worse.

About the Author

Lee Child is the author of eleven Jack Reacher thrillers, including the New York Times bestsellers Persuader, the Barry Award Winner The Enemy, The Hard Way, and One Shot, which has been optioned for a major motion picture by Paramount Pictures. His debut, Killing Floor, won both the Anthony and Barry Awards for Best First Mystery. Foreign rights in the Jack Reacher series have sold in more than 40 territories. Child, a native of England and former television writer, lives in New York City and France, where he is at work on his next thriller, which Delacorte will publish in 2008.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating 4 (2 comments)

I got exactly what I expected. Lots of action, a little bit of sex, a few surprises and the good guys and gals won in the end. I wanted something I could easily read between sporting events. I got caught up enough, though, to finish it in a couple days.
This effort is slightly better than some of his previous stories and also has Reacher doing a little bit of introspection about his lone wolf life style when he hooks up with 3 buddies from his old unit. He, of course, finally concludes that he's no worse off than his more successful appearing companions. If he didn't how could Child continue the series.
The plot while not particularly inventive, filled with terrorists, crooked defense contractors, sad widows, crooked cops, unwilling, threatened witnesses, etc. does move along at a pretty good pace. The characterizations are somewhat stereotyped, especially the bad guys but I wasn't looking for great literature here.
I think it's actually a three and a half but I decided to round up since I did enjoy the book so much.